RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS AND PEERS - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF ADOLESCENT INTIMACY

This study presents a longitudinal account of adolescent-parent and ad olescent-friend intimacy from early adolescence to young adulthood. Bo ys and girls both reported increases in intimacy with fathers, over ti me. For boys, the increase in intimacy with mothers greater from 8th t hrough 12th grade than from 12th grade through the young adult follow- up (YAF) 4 years later For girls, intimacy with mother was lower from 8th through 12th grade than the increase reported from 12th grade thro ugh the YAF. The change in intimacy with a best friend also differed f or boys and girls, with boys reporting a greater increase in intimacy from 8th through 12th grade than girls. Correlations indicated stabili ty in parent-daughter and mother-son intimacy, over time. Intimacy in adolescent relationships also predicted concurrent and future social s elf-image, although the pattern of these predictions differed for boys and girls.